


Grandpa Kishin

by SpaceMalarkey



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Cute, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2020-10-28 06:35:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20774135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceMalarkey/pseuds/SpaceMalarkey
Summary: This idea has been sitting in my head for far too long. Have some godly grandpas.The lovely DF has made some art for this fic! please check it out at:https://dfanart.tumblr.com/post/188130084577/grandpa-kishin-a-linked-universe-fanfic-byThank you so much DF! Your art is amazing!





	1. Divine dad

Being the Hero of Hyrule usually meant that one would not react to strange things happening. Being the Hero usually meant weeks, months, or even years of travel, solving strange puzzles, helping strange beings, discovering new lands, or battling evil. In all this time it was almost a promise that strange things would occur. For some it was scary, involving the souls of the lost, or rising undead. For others it was sheer stupidity, like cannons shooting people across the country, or old men dressed as fairies. 

Every single hero in the party had seen his fair share of strangeness, yet nothing could prepare them for what had happened that night. 

It had started with the oldest of them fiddling with his bags, looking for some masks to entertain their youngest. It had all gone wrong the moment he reached for a particular mask, filled with terrifying power. Normally Time would drop the mask upon touching it, but he could feel something was not right. As he pulled it out, shock painted his face as his eyes came to rest upon dark cracks in the surface of the mask. Something was leaking out of the cracks, something powerful, something oppressive. 

Time stared transfixed, not realising the others had caught on to this strange behaviour, and wondered how this was even possible. This mask had always been indestructible, so what was so different now? 

“Hey, Time? You alright, old man?” Warriors asked carefully. As Time looked up from the mask, a large explosion could be heard, and said hero was covered in a strange dust.  
The other heroes were about to rush in, but Warriors stopped them.  
  
“We don't know whats happening, just calm down,” he ordered in a tight voice. It was clear to the others that he didn’t like this either. 

The smoke cleared, finding that Time wasn’t alone. A large figure stood next to him, looking down at their comrade. He had the same facial markings as Time did, eyes that appeared almost completely white, silver hair hanging over his back in a tight braid, and pale skin. He appeared to wear armor similar to Time, teal and steel blending beautifully. On his back rested a large sword in a helix pattern. The sword was almost bigger than him.  
  
Time glared up at him, looking for all eyes in the clearing, afraid. Rightfully so. Power radiated from this person, making him feel mighty, dangerous. It made some of the more sensitive heroes back away slightly, but they all held their ground. 

The godly being blinked, turned his head slowly to look at everyone, and then opened his mouth to speak.  
  
“Babies.” 

The expression on his face changed so fast it was impossible to tell if he had been the same person only seconds ago. The intimidating stare had turned to awe and a smile had grown on his lips.  
  
“You didn’t tell me you had children, little one,” he turned to Time and laughed at the shocked expression he found there.  
  
“W-what?” the Hero of Time stuttered. “Aren't you… you know… going to attack us and run off waging war or something?”  
  
This only made the strange man laugh even harder.  
  
“Why would I do that? Honestly, it's like you don’t know me at all!”  
  
“That’s because I don’t.”  
  
“You say the strangest things. We have been together for so long I can hardly remember life without you in it! I even had my appearance changed from being near you so much, see?” he pointed at himself, which was a strangely innocent gesture for someone so tall and intimidating.  
  
“Ok hold up, time out! What’s going on? Who is he?” Legend made his dismay known by loudly exclaiming.  
  
Time made to answer, but was immediately interrupted by the tall man grabbing him and hugging him close.  
  
“You may call me Kishin,” he said, and then he pressed his cheek to Time’s and grinned. “This is my darling boy. See?” he pointed a finger to their faces. “Family resemblance.”  
  
“You’re not my dad,” Time immediately retorted, feeling his patience vanish faster than Legend the second he came near a cucco.  
  
“Son, that’s very hurtful,” Kishin pouted, obviously not taking this seriously at all. 

“Why are you out here anyway? Weren’t you supposed to be sealed in the mask for all time?”  
  
“Obviously I’m not, mister grumpy pants. My mask was broken and honestly I wanted to see you so I can hug you and give you _all_ the fatherly love you deserve.”  
  
“Go die in a fire.”  
  
“That’s no way to talk to your father.”  
  
“We aren’t related.” 

  
Whatever Kishin was supposed to say in reply was swallowed up by several heroes flocking to them, fear completely forgotten. 

“Are you really Time’s dad?” Wind yelled up at the tall god.  
  
“You came from the mask? Interesting, the old man always liked being cryptic about them,” Warriors remarked, staring at the resemblance between the two men in front of him.  
  
“Who would have known the old man had locked up his old man in a mask?” Legend snarked, elbowing Warriors and grinning.  
  
“Where did you get that sword? Is it balanced? Does its unique shape offer up some other advantages than a normal sword?” Four babbled, eyes only for the strange helix sword on Kishin’s back.  
  
“I wish I had a dad,” Sky smiled up at the god. “It seems like a nice thing.”  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Hyrule muttered. “Would have made the journey a little easier to handle, I think.”  
  
“I wonder what other secrets you are hiding,” Twilight grumbled, arms crossed and a suspicious glint in his eyes.  
  
“Oh! I have seen your clothing and mask before!” Wild excitedly exclaimed. “I have some replicas in my bag!”  
  
Kishin grew very quiet, staring at all the heroes, suddenly contemplating.  
Then he spoke.  
  
“I became a father and grandpa in the same day?” he smiled. “Son, you really impress me.”  
  
“I’m not your son!” Time yelled, going completely ignored as Kishin hugged him once more, only to let go of him so he could indulge Four in his questions about his sword.  


It was a strange sight, seeing the normally intimidating figure of the deity hunch down in front of tiny Four, holding out his sword carefully and answering every question with a gentle smile and even giving Four a few pats on the head. Time wasn’t sure what to think of this situation.  
  
“He is rather gentle for such a powerful being,” Warriors commented from somewhere beside him. “Are you sure you can handle him being around for a little while?”  
  
Time nodded thoughtfully, going over any pros and cons in his head.  
  
“I think,” he said carefully. “That I might be alright with this, as long as he doesn’t go berserk. He is very powerful.”  
  
“Oh good!” Legend breathed. “Because he is coming with us.”  
  
There was a stunned silence before Time did something he never did.  
  
He screamed.


	2. Yet another annoying family member

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame the last bit on DF and their amazing art over at tumblr https://dfanart.tumblr.com/post/189128347567/i-have-debated-with-myself-on-sharing-this-mildly

You’d think that he had learned by now. Strange and completely abnormal things are, and would continue to happen to him as long as he was considered a hero. Especially a legendary hero such as the Hero of Time. He had seen horrible things, seen strange things, seen stupid things. Stupid things which, currently considered the bane of his existence, were walking around, laughing loudly and completely humiliating him. 

It turns out that carrying the mask for so long had consequences. Mainly the fact that the terrifying deity had become deeply attached to him, had his appearance changed to look more similar to him, and was now free of his imprisonment in the mask. This also meant that Kishin was acting like an overexcited child in the wrong era. He kept bouncing around, touched _ everything _ and was amused by almost everything he came across.

The most annoying thing was that because of his appearance and apparent divine bond with Time, he has named himself Time’s father. He had also immediately adopted everyone else as his new grandchild. While he seemed to favour all of them, something Time believed had to do with their shared Hero Spirit, the giant man was especially fond of the Hero of the Four Sword.

Maybe it was due to their immense size difference? Maybe it was due to the fact that Four was just as fascinated by Kishin as Kishin was fascinated by him. Maybe it was due to the habit the two had gotten into of Kishin carrying Four on his shoulders as they whispered secrets. The giggle that would escape Four never failed to make Kishin smile brightly. 

Time wasn’t jealous. Not at all. 

Kishin, on the other hand, was having a blast. All the little ones were so interesting and lovable! Every single one in their own way, even if they all shared more than they would ever understand. Being a deity, he could see more than mortals could. Ever since his little one had come into possession of his mask, he had felt a change overcoming him. The babies called this the Hero Spirit. Kishin felt it more as a sacred bond, like a ribbon only visible to the spiritually gifted. It gently caressed every single one of them, and because of his bond with his little one, the ribbon had come to gently rest around him as well.

This did not make him a hero, not like the babies. It did, however, make him worthy of them. And he would make sure they were all feeling loved by someone bigger and stronger than themselves. 

But he couldn’t do that openly. It would probably hurt them more to know that they were all bound by destiny, unable to be free from it. So he did the best thing he could think of. He had fun, followed his instincts, and did silly things with them like dancing barefoot in the rain, giving rides to the smallest ones, telling them ancient tales of the land before theirs.

He would have liked to have a serious conversation with his little one, the one the babies called Time. But he also enjoyed messing with him, fluffing his hair, give him hugs and resting his chin on Time’s head. 

Kishin wasn’t sure what made him feel like this. Maybe it was his growing bond, trapping him in a way than the mask never could. Maybe if he wasn’t so influenced by this little one, he would have been free. Free to go where he wished, not bound by this little one’s life. Maybe- oh. Something interesting was happening, completely pulling Kishin away from his deeper thoughts. Something positively stupid, but also very cute. 

The wild baby had apparently decided that Kishin was the best grandfather in existence, judging by the fact that he was currently wearing an armor set identical to his own, complete with a mask that looked like Kishin’s face, markings and white eyes and all. The only difference was that the wild child’s eyes were completely white. Close, but not a complete match. He had also mimicked his hairstyle, braiding the long usually golden strands into a tight braid that bounced gently against his back. It was strange, how he knew the baby was wearing a mask, yet the baby could move his face as if it were his own. Even the hair matched his color, the normally golden wheat now a silvery white. As strange as it was, that didn’t bother Kishin one bit. He found it fascinating and extremely endearing that one of the babies were obsessed with him.  
He became aware of a silence covering the camp. Everyone was staring at him, as he himself was staring down the wild baby, who looked up at him with an eager expression. 

Oh. They were waiting for him to talk. 

“Mini-me,” he said, completely unaware of the suffocating silence he had accidentally created. The wild child grinned and ran up to him, turned, and struck a dramatic pose for his strange magic slate thing. Kishin had learned that whenever the baby did this, he was required to also strike a pose, as the magic slate thingy could capture a moment forever. He was still not sure if he should trust it, and not completely convinced it did not try and steal his soul with every capture, but the wild child had done this constantly and Kishin couldn’t sense his soul being chipped more than it already was, so he supposed it would be alright to humor the baby. 

From his spot over in the corner, Time glared. 

No, he wasn’t jealous, he just had an awful feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong. The feeling had persisted for quite some time, and he was certain it had something to do with Kishin, despite Kishin being a part of their little gang for well over a week now. It was like someone was watching him. In Time’s experience, that usually meant someone was. 

Naturally, this also meant that Time was proven right about three minutes later, when dark water moved across the ground and over to where he sat comfortably resting. Now, Time has seen some things in his life. The way the water moved, the way it reflected only him in its mirror, told him exactly who this was.  
Boy, was this gonna be a day. 

Kishin looked on as the dark liquid stopped in front of his little one, seeming to pause before a person emerged from it. Well, not entirely emerging _ from _ the water, more like the water was forming a person. He moved as if he had been underwater for ages, finally breaking the surface and gasping, as if the air filled him with life. Maybe it did. 

The being kept floating up, the rest of his body forming from the last of the liquid on the ground, until eventually a perfect dark mirror image of his little one was standing in front of him, staring down at the hero. 

No one spoke. All eyes were on the pair of identical heroes, waiting for any of them to strike. 

Then the dark being spoke.

“Hey.” 

What.

“Is.. is that Dark Link?” someone spoke up, shattering the silence. The dark being turned its head to look at the rest of the heroes who were now surrounding it. It looked like a dark version of a younger Time, his eyes a deep red and skin dark grey. He had a sort of translucent quality to his skin, making tiny sparkles of light when the sun's rays touched him. His hair was white, strangely enough. Time couldn’t remember that feature the last time they met. 

"Wow. Rude. Firstly I’m made of water, not dark goop or whatever, secondly-"

He was interrupted by a knife stabbing through his chest. The dark version of Time looked down at the knife through his chest, a complete lack of pain or worry in his features. 

"Secondly, can you stop trying to cut me apart, I just said I’m made of water."

"Why are you here?” Time growled, sheathing his knife and glaring. 

"I got _ very _ bored."

"Ok, and that’s my problem because?"

"Because we're twins."

"No. Not this again!"

"Brother dear."

"Fuck you."

By now, Kishin had run out of patience and had made his way over the couple, staring this new addition to their day down. He completely towered over both of them, and Time would have to admit he looked intimidating. He gave the dark water being a long, hard stare before he lifted his hand to ruffle his hair like he usually did with Time.

“Mirror son,” he muttered, smiling as the water clone of Time closed his eyes and seemed to lean into the touch.

“God damn it, he’s not your son,” Time growled. Kishin paid him no mind as he sat down in front of the new addition to his ever growing family. The rest of the heroes, judging the situation to be safe due to how Time and Kishin were reacting, closed in as well and were all asking the same question. What do they call this one?

The water mirror tilted his head, and admitted he hadn’t thought of that. The rest of the heroes decided to suggest some for him.

“Reflecty boi?”

“No.”

“Mirror”

“...no”

“How about-”

“No.”

“But I didn’t even-”

“I said no.”

They went back and forth like this until Wind spoke, his voice somehow singing over everyone else. “What about Sigma?”

The water mirror gave their youngest a thoughtful look, before carefully asking “What does it mean?”

Wind gave him a shrug.

“I think it has several meanings, but I heard that it’s a star in a big constellation. And also it sounds cool.”  
It did sound cool. 

“I like it,” the newly dubbed Sigma smirked. “Sounds way cooler than my brother’s name.”

“Hey, you shut your mouth,” Time growled at him.  
  


As the two new brothers continued to bicker like children, Kishin had found a new distraction. He was staring at the wild baby who had changed into something he has never seen before.

“What are those short leggings of yours?” he asked, bending down to be at eye level with the baby.  
The wildling looked up at him and grinned.

“These are shorts! Wanna try some? I have an extra pair.”

Now that seemed interesting. They looked very comfortable. Kishin held his hand out carefully, and watched as the baby happily handed him a pair of these… Shorts. In the matter of moments he had changed, and marvelled at the comfort and the gentle breeze on his bare legs.

“This is marvellous!” he beamed, causing everyone to shift their attention from the bickering twins and over to him. There was a stunned silence before the snarky baby barked out a loud laugh.

“Oh my goddess!” he cackled. “BOOTY SHORTS!!”

“Is that the name of these wonderful garments?” Kishin smiled at him. “I must admit they looked longer on the wild one.”  
  


Turns out, Wild’s shorts were supposed to reach mid thigh, if not slightly longer. However, when you give them to a much bigger man, who also happens to be way more muscular than you are, they turn into booty shorts. Showing off all the things his proclaimed son did _ not _ want to see. 

“OH GOD WHY?!” Time screamed, letting go of his dark twin and covered his eyes. “WHY MUST YOU BE LIKE THIS?!”

“I mean,” Sigma started, staring at Kishin with something like astonishment in his eyes. “He does kinda rock the look, not gonna lie.” 

“You are banned.”

“Why? You can’t deny he has the butt for it-”

“I SAID SHUSH!” 

The babies started their bickering anew while the other babies laughed. Some of the babies came up to him with curiosity in their minds, and others decided that the bickering of the twins was much more entertaining.

Kishin reluctantly changed into his normal leggings and settled down with the tiny baby and listened to him babble on about how swords are tempered. 

As he looked up to the sunny sky and felt the grass tickle his skin, he couldn’t help but think how wonderful the world outside the mask was. 

And oh, how lucky he was to have this. 


	3. Tiny babies are too tiny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short dumbo chapter

Finally there was peace. One day in the middle of chaos week where they had the day off. No monsters for miles, no troubled townspeople, life was currently rather alright. 

The band of heroes and... others, were currently relaxing by lake Hylia in Twilight's era. The water reflected the sunny sky, effectively making Time's current spot by the shore the perfect spot for some sunbathing. There was a light breeze and the smell of wildflowers on the wind. 

Time took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, feeling the last bits of tension leave his body. 

His fellow heroes were all in a calmer mood than usual, sunbathing, enjoying a light swim, or even reading in the shade. 

Even his self-proclaimed twin was relaxing by the shore on the other side of camp, talking in low tones with Warriors and giggling. 

Life was great.

**"SON!!" **

Oh no. There it goes. The last shred of happiness. Goodbye content calm, goodbye relaxation, goodbye relaxed muscles. 

Hello stress, hello frustration, hello that awful lump in his muscles just out of reach. 

In short;  _ fuck. _

"What. Now." Time grit out, already Done with this day and Done with this so called father of his. Honestly, he'd take the damn tree traumatising him all over again over this bullshit. 

Time refused to move his body, no way, he had already claimed this place as his own. This was his spot. The damn deity can find his own. He opened his eyes and fixed Kishin with the harshest glare he could muster. 

Somewhere in the back of the camp, he could hear Twilight gasp softly and slide out of sight.

"Son! The little baby shrank!" Kishin yelled, eyes wide and full of panic. 

Okay so maybe it was serious this time. Normally Kishin was strangely composed, even if he was saying utterly ridiculous things. This time he looked honestly stressed and scared. It was strange. Time let himself bask in this rare sight before heaving a tired sigh and sitting up, patting the ground next to him. 

Kishin all but threw himself down with his legs crossed. Even sitting down next to him, he was huge, towering over Time by a significant amount. 

Then, he hunched down, and held his cupped hands towards his little one. 

"The little baby got tiny!" he shrieked, and opened his palms to show him.

Now Time would have believed this was all some stupid trick, if not for the fact that Four looked ruffled and slightly nauseated. Kishin must have run around with him in his hands. 

"Why is he...?" 

"I do not know! One moment the little baby was normal little, and the next, he was a tiny baby!" 

"....you DO know you could have just asked him, yeah? instead of running around like a maniac and probably caused him to almost throw up?" 

Kishin stared at him for exactly three, long, suffocating seconds, before he spoke in a soft voice. 

"I did not think of that."

"I bet you didn’t."

Four chose that moment to speak up, apparently no longer dizzy. 

"You know, this is normal for me. I  _ did  _ plan on showing only you, but you practically made a stage for the entire camp!"

He glared up at the god, hands on his hips and a tiny foot tapping the palm under him. 

Time waited for Kishin to admit he was wrong, but the deity did something unexpected. 

To be fair, Time should have been used to this by now Kishin always did the unexpected. 

Big tears sprung from his eyes and he bit his lip to try in vain to keep in the tiny whining noise that escaped from his chest.

"W-whats wrong? Are you okay?" Time found himself panicking. What could possibly make a god cry?

"He..." Kishin managed. "He's so tiny!"

What.

The normally terrifying god that haunted Time's nightmares was crying. Because Four was tiny. 

Was he drunk?

Sadly, he was not drunk. Time honestly wishes he was. Now he was even more embarrassing. 

"He is so small! How will he purchase goods? How will he wear clothes?!"

"I’m already wearing clothing, Kishin!"

"Where did he get the tiny clothing from, son?"

"I shrank with this! Look, I’m not like this forever, it's a power I have!"

"HOW WILL HE RETURN TO HIS OLD LIFE, LITTLE ONE?!"

"Oh my god please just let him grow up." 

"HOW?! HE IS SO SMALL!"

"This is great. I can watch them going on for hours!" Sigma snickered as he munched on some dried fruits. "How long can they go?"

Warriors gave him an expression that looked like a mix of exasperation and fondness. A strange expression to be sure. 

"Honestly they have gone on for hours before. Usually we all play an improvised drinking game where, every time they just about reach and end but they keep going, we drink hot sauce."

"Can I join?"

"Of course! I'll have Wild mix up the batch!"

Three hours later, Time and Kishin turned their heads to a sea of downed heroes, clutching their throats, chugging milk, or hitting the ground repeatedly. Wild and Sigma were both sitting upright, and commenting on how good the sauce tasted. Sigma even tried figuring out all the ingredients and Wild was clapping appreciatively at his correct guesses. 

"What the hell?"

"Are the babies alright? They all seem... distressed."

Four chose that moment to burst into his normal size on top of Kishin, making the big deity fall over and hug his favorite close.

"The tiny baby is back! The tiny baby is unharmed!"

"I told you! It’s normal for me!"

Time glared. 

"You only needed him to tell you that, you didn’t have to drag me into a debate."

"But what if it had been a problem and the little one was in trouble?!"

Wild and Sigma shared a look before handing out more hot sauce shots.


End file.
